How to check a business operator’s court record before sending money
Australian investors are often approached by operators with polished websites, offshore offices and promises of fast-moving opportunities. Before any money changes hands, public records can reveal far more about a business principal than a sales pitch ever will.
The record of Adrian James Campbell illustrates why. Public judgments show convictions in Queensland in 2012, five further convictions recorded in Southport Magistrates Court in 2015, and an 2018 case in which he pleaded guilty to 11 counts of false and misleading conduct under Australian Consumer Law. In that matter, the magistrate described the conduct as calculated, deliberate and plainly “a scam”.
Those matters were not hidden in secret files. They were matters of court record. The same is true of later Federal Court proceedings in Campbell v McIntyre (No 2) [2026] FCA 1279, where Justice Derrington found Campbell’s non-disclosures exceptionally serious after he swore an affidavit saying he had never been convicted of any criminal offence in Australia. The court discharged the injunctions he had obtained and ordered him to pay 80 per cent of the other side’s legal costs on an indemnity basis.
What public records can show
A basic search can start with judgments from the Federal Court, Supreme Courts and magistrates courts. Many decisions are published online and searchable by name. For consumer and company matters, tribunal records and regulator databases can also be useful. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission keeps registers and warnings. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Scamwatch publish consumer alerts. State fair trading and consumer affairs agencies also record disciplinary and prosecution outcomes.
Company searches can be equally important. ASIC records may reveal directorships, deregistrations, external administration, or associations with entities that have collapsed. In Campbell’s case, public material links him to entities including Eco Boss Pty Ltd, International Solar Solutions, Kinnara Capital, Kinnara Asia and Kinnara Limited. The issue for investors is not merely where a company is registered, but who controls it, where its money flows and what that person’s history shows.
The warning signs
Offshore operators often use distance to dull scrutiny. They may market from Thailand, Hong Kong or Bali while targeting Australian buyers. They may rely on complex corporate structures, urgent discounts and social media promotion. They may also present themselves as experienced while omitting inconvenient parts of their history.
Public reporting in October 2026 noted that Campbell, who is Thailand-based and leads Kinnara Capital, was linked to a stalled Bali property development that had drawn investor complaints and police attention. According to the Daily Mail, the matter involved millions of dollars in Australian investor funds and structures that were allegedly built in the wrong location before being torn down. Campbell has denied wrongdoing in relation to the project and says Kinnara acted only as sales and marketing agent, did not hold purchaser funds and lodged its own report with Indonesian police.
“The safest assumption is that a clean brochure is not a clean record.”
That principle is borne out by court records. Campbell later filed a corrected affidavit admitting prior convictions after his earlier sworn statement denied any criminal history. Justice Derrington found he had substantially downplayed his history and had led the court to believe he was an Australian resident when he was not. The judge’s findings were not about investment merit; they were about candour, credibility and disclosure.
How to check before committing funds
A prudent record check can include the person’s full name, any former names, company names and business aliases. Searches should extend beyond company websites to published judgments, tribunal decisions, ASIC records, fair trading rulings, police media releases and foreign company registers where relevant. Investors can also look for patterns: repeated complaints, late delivery, failed refunds, insolvencies and litigation across different ventures.
Campbell has said his convictions are a matter of public record, that his first affidavit was incomplete rather than intentional, and that the error was corrected. That response does not alter the underlying lesson. Public records are often the only reliable check on a business operator’s history, particularly where the operator trades across borders and the promises are made long before any product or property exists.
In a market crowded with offshore schemes and glossy claims, the record may be the most valuable document of all.